SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A foreign diplomat says a panel of nations backing Yemen's political transition is recommending international sanctions against loyalists of the former president, southern secessionists and members of the largest Islamist group for undermining the country's path to democracy.
The diplomat, who is familiar with a Thursday meeting grouping the ambassadors of the U.N. Security Council's five permanent members plus five Gulf Arab nations, said an investigation into the groups' involvement in recent violence and attempts to undermine Yemen's democratic transition is ongoing. The diplomat agreed to discuss the meeting's details on condition his name be withheld.
It is the first time groups were specified since the Council's June resolution threatening sanctions. President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi replaced Ali Abdullah Saleh in February under an internationally-backed agreement.
